From Kolten to Jaelan, high school to college, Sanford name spells hoop success

Bosse's Kolten Sanford (45), shooting a layup against Memorial on Dec. 11, returned from a broken foot injury Saturday at Terre Haute South. He was averaging 13.0 points before he was sidelined.(Photo: MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press)

EVANSVILLE – While Kolten Sanford is recovering from a broken foot, older brother Jaelan has quietly skyrocketed to eighth place on the University of Toledo men’s basketball career scoring list.

But most of the buzz locally hovers around Kolten’s return to Bosse High School's lineup. If healthy, he gives the athletic Bulldogs an outside threat they need so badly in the half-court.

Jaelan, who is five years older than Kolten, doesn’t mind the attention focused on his younger brother. Through the first three years of his prep career at Reitz, Jaelan may not have been considered a Division I prospect. But that all changed when his stock rose before his senior year. Then, he led the Panthers to a berth in the Class 4A state championship game and became an Indiana All-Star.

Kolten, a 5-foot-10 junior, has another year to prove he can become a Division I player, despite his relative lack of stature. Former Bosse standout Mekhi Lairy, now a freshman at Miami (Ohio), was listed at 5-8. He overcame his lack of size through blinding speed with the ball and a smooth shooting touch.

But first, Kolten has to demonstrate he is fully healed from a broken foot suffered on Dec. 14 against visiting Washington. Sanford, who returned to full practice last Tuesday, scored two points in 12 minutes Saturday in an 80-54 victory over host Terre Haute South.

“I just told him everything happens for a reason,” said Jaelan, a 6-4 senior who suffered a broken tibula the summer before his senior season at Reitz. “Going through an injury like that is tough. I told him to stay mentally tough.”

KOLTEN ON COMEBACK TRAIL

Kolten returned to full practice under the watchful eye of Bosse assistant LaMar Brown, who was leading the team in head coach Shane Burkhart’s absence. Burkhart was out briefly with a stomach issue, but returned to the sidelines at Terre Haute South.

For his part, Sanford has handled his injury better than any player Brown has ever seen. Trainer Jess Monroe said Sanford, who has been riding an exercise bike 20 miles before practice, said everything has worked out just right for him to be as far along as he is.

“His x-rays looked amazing,” Monroe said.

Kolten said he was on a fast break against Washington when disaster struck.

“It was a tough injury,” said Kolten, who was averaging 13.0 points for the Bulldogs (13-6) before the mishap. “I got the ball and swept left. I went up for a layup and came down on the side of my foot. I thought it was a sprained ankle or something.”

Fouled on the play, he knew something was wrong.

“Coach called a timeout and I told him, I was all right to play,” Kolten said. “I was just feeling pain. I shot the first one and made it, but knew I couldn’t play after that. I told coach to give me a sub, but missed the second and had to run back on defense.”

Shortly thereafter, he was on the trainer’s table and Monroe told him he had broken his fifth metatarsal.

“She said that’s the easiest bone to break in high school,” Kolten said. “I landed on my foot sideways.”

In addition to riding an exercise bike 20 miles a day, he went on a diet so he wouldn’t put on weight. During his absence, he tried to serve as a tutor to Bosse’s young point guards.

Burkhart said Kolten has been working extremely hard with his rehab to get back well before the Class 3A Boonville Sectional, which starts on Feb. 26.

“His devotion to the team and making sure we are at full strength if possible has been the most impressive part about it," Burkhart said. "He is truly busting his hump day in and day out.”

Burkhart couldn’t be happier for Sanford and has placed no expectations upon him.

“That would be unfair for us to do to him,” Burkhart said. “He needs to make sure he is 100 percent, then give us what he can. If that’s zero minutes and him continuing to coach on the sideline, five or 25 minutes on the court we will take whatever we get but we will not put his senior year in jeopardy for games this year.”

STATE LOSS STILL STINGS

It seems like only yesterday – as they say – that Jaelan hit a 3-pointer from the left wing at the buzzer in overtime, trimming Fort Wayne Homestead’s final margin of victory to 91-90 in the 4A state championship game in 2015 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Although the Panthers let a 10-point lead with four minutes left in regulation slip away, time and the emergence of Homestead’s Caleb Swanigan into an All-American at Purdue (traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to Sacramento Kings last Thursday), has taken a bit of the pain away. Maybe.

“I talk to the guys I played with and it still stings,” Jaelan said. “It doesn’t sting as much. It was the biggest game of my life. But there have been bigger games as I’ve gone on up.”

Jaelan Sanford (13), who lifted Reitz to a berth in the Class 4A state championship game in 2015, ranks eighth on Toledo's career scoring list.(Photo: University of Toledo)

Kolten, who watches Jaelan play for Toledo in one media form or another, said he is devastated about the loss at state, but has moved on to new challenges.

University of Evansville athletic director Mark Spencer said part of the reason the Aces let Marty Simmons go as head coach was because he didn’t lead them to a tournament with an “N” at the front. Well, Jaelan has had the same problem so far at Toledo. Despite considerable success, the Rockets haven’t advanced to the NCAA tournament or National Invitation Tournament in Sanford’s first three years at Toledo.

“We have to stay solid. It’s what I have wanted to do my whole life,” said Sanford of gaining that elusive NCAA tournament berth. “I have to stay confident in myself."

Jaelan, who has lifted Toledo to first place in the MAC West at 8-3, was nicknamed “Jaypack” his freshman year at Reitz by then-senior Nate Tidwell and it stuck. Kolten, who has a more traditional nickname, “Kolt,” worked out frequently with his older brother despite their age difference.

“I’ve always looked up to him,” Kolten said. “We did everything together when we were younger. Every spring break we would be in the gym 24/7. He told me to work hard and play defense and be vocal on the court and get a scholarship.”

Jaelan credited Pocket City AAU coach N.D. Kendrick and his father, Bryan, a former North standout, for helping him land a Division I scholarship.

“It’s an awesome accomplishment,” said Jaelan, about climbing up Toledo’s all-time scoring list. “And it’s awesome to know that I’m not done yet. But I don’t care if I’m the leading scorer. I care about getting to the NCAA tournament and know what that feeling is like.”

Jaelan, who has 1,644 career points, 32 away from No. 7 Steve Mix on Toledo's all-time list, has a wealth of respect for Lairy, now his rival in the MAC.

Jaelan, who is averaging 15.8 points for the 20-4 Rockets, has been among the MAC’s top 10 scorers the past two seasons and was a second-team all-league selection last year. Majoring in business management, he has won the MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honor.

“He was an ultimate competitor who was extremely tough to prepare for,” Burkhart said. “He helped shape the landscape of the recent recruiting in Evansville. With (Jalen) Pendleton, JaQuan (Lyle) and Ernie (Duncan) getting coaches in town, he did his part to keep them coming for the players behind him. He is a special player. Has a chance to be a pro!”

HOOPS A FAMILY AFFAIR

Not only is Jaelan a senior at Toledo and Kolten a junior at Bosse, cousins Jacob and Kayla Sanford played for North Posey and are now playing for Oakland City University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, respectively.

Bailey, Jaelan and Kolten’s brother, played linebacker for Reitz’s football team and two years of basketball.

Bryan, their father, played for North and Olney Central, a junior college in Olney, Illinois. Scott, their uncle, was a member of North’s 1,000-point club and played for Danville Area, a juco in Danville, Illinois, and one year at Southeast Missouri State.

“Me and my brother growing up, it was always very competitive,’’ Bryan said. “And we always took losing very personal and I think that the same mentality has rubbed off on our kids as well.”

As a sophomore, Kolten averaged 16.7 points in helping spark North to its first 4A sectional title in 20 years last March. But he and his mother moved into the Bosse district last summer.

“They have tremendous athletes here, they’re more athletic than at North,” Kolten said. “Basketball is what I love to do. It was devastating that I had to leave North. They had not won a sectional in 20 years and we made history.”

Coming from an athletic family, Jaelan said all of the Sanfords had a competitive edge growing up.